nuva ring / Mirena IUD experiences?

[Anonymous]

I'm trying to decide between the Mirena IUD, or the Nuva Ring. if you've had experience with either of these methods could you let me know? My main hesitation with the Mirena is that for some reason the insertion process and the idea of having something in my uterus feels weird to me; I also worry about any other side effects it might have. The nuva ring seems great -- my sister in law is a midwife and says other than cost she thinks it's fantastic. If you've used either or both of these methods I would appreciate hearing your thoughts.

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

I'm the person who posted about Mirena and my severe abdominal cramps earlier today. Need I say more? No, but seriously. It seems okay to me so far. The insertion part was definitely a little painful. It's done something funky to my periods too. I've only had one so far, but I got brown spotting a few days before it started then the brown spotting came back after my period and lingered for another week. I'm thinking my body is getting used to it and will regulate within a few months or so. On a day to day basis, I don't think much about it, and I don't feel it inside me, of course. I can't take hormonal birth control, so this is the best option for me. I don't know anything about the nuva ring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm the person who posted about Mirena and my severe abdominal cramps earlier today. Need I say more? No, but seriously. It seems okay to me so far. The insertion part was definitely a little painful. It's done something funky to my periods too. I've only had one so far, but I got brown spotting a few days before it started then the brown spotting came back after my period and lingered for another week. I'm thinking my body is getting used to it and will regulate within a few months or so. On a day to day basis, I don't think much about it, and I don't feel it inside me, of course. I can't take hormonal birth control, so this is the best option for me. I don't know anything about the nuva ring.

Sorry, I'm an idiot. I actually have the Paraguard (copper based) IUD, not the Mirena!!! I don't know why I always mix up the two names.

[Anonymous]

I have had Paraguard for several years and it worked! there is no discomfort with it that I can notice.

[Anonymous]

Love the Nuvaring. Super easy and comfortable. It's worked great for me for years, although I have heard of a people getting pregnant while using it.

[Anonymous]

I haven't had any experience with Nuvaring, but Mirena has been just about the best thing ever. I had very heavy, VERY long periods (seriously, several weeks at a time), so trying to fix that was the primary reason for trying Mirena.

It has improved my quality of life about a million percent. I'm not one of those lucky women who has stopped having periods altogether, but - while they're still long - they're nothing more than spotting. So easy to deal with.

Insertion was painful, and I had a little cramping, but by the next day I was fine. I don't feel it at all, and it's so nice not to have to worry about birth control.

[Anonymous]

3 year Nuvaring user - I love that I don't have to take a daily pill. You can use them back to back and delay a period for 3 months, similar to the Seasonique (I think that's the name) pill. I am not comfortable with IUDs as a general concept. I also just saw a friend I hadn't seen in over a year and she was telling me about how her Mirena perfereated her uterus and lead to abdominal surgery which resulted in a hernia. It's a low percentage risk, but enough to make me scared to death to have one.

[Anonymous]

I could've written your post, OP. I was in the same boat a few months ago. I just decided to bite the bullet and figured I need to just try Mirena or the ring. I decided to use the less invasive one and tried the ring. I have had no side effects from the hormones, and I usually don't notice it at all. Except it does seem to "sit" low, so sometimes I feel it and need to push it back in a little. Which is somewhat annoying. But I had C-sections and fear insertion of an IUD and also feel funny keeping something in my uterus. Just take the plunge and try the ring. If you don't like it after a few months, you can always try something else!

[Anonymous]

Nuvaring killed my libido. I had been on pills before, however, and they likely had a comparable effect. Good thing about the nuvaring was that when i took it out, my hormones only took a month to re-adjust and my libido came back. Multiple levels of birth control, maybe .

[Anonymous]

I was on the paraguard for years and really liked it. Hormonal BC always made me cranky and gave me stomach fat.

About the ring--haven't there been some lawsuits about the amount of hormones in the ring being substantially higher than what is advertised?? I know this happened with the patch...

[Anonymous]

I have a friend who used the Nuva Ring and it came out during sex several times. Perhaps she was inserting it wrong or something.

I'm leaning towards a Mirena. My gyn says she uses one and IUDs are the #1 choice among ob/gyns.

[Anonymous]

I had both. The ring was easy to put in, no pain, but we didn't really have sex with it in. Too concerned we'd lose it or it would end up around him.

Mirena - I have a tilted uterus, which meant the Dr. had to dilate me to insert it. That, obviously, was a "bit" uncomfortable, and I had cramps the rest of that day. One day of mild discomfort vs. 4 years of worry free sex was well worth it! I recently got it removed, which took all of 5 seconds, and one small cramp when it was pulled out. I would highly recommend it, I had no problems what so ever.

[Anonymous]

I liked the Nuva ring until it suddenly stopped "staying put". And then I got pregnant while on it. I didn't really like inserting and removing it, but that's really because I'm not very coordinated. I also hate OB tampons for the same reason.

My OBGYN is suggesting the mirena but I'm not sure how I feel about having something inserted and then having to coordinate to have it removed before I start trying for another baby.